Lawren Harris, Jean-Paul Riopelle artworks up for auction

Fine Canadian art auction and Post-war and contemporary sale set for Toronto's Design Exchange

Heffel Fine Art Auctions has estimated the Lawren Harris oil painting Mountains East of Maligne Lake to sell for between $2.5 million and $3.5 million as part of its 2017 fall auction in Toronto on Wednesday, November 22, 2017. (Heffel Fine Art Auction House)

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​Eight works by Group of Seven founding member Lawren Harris are going on the auction block in Toronto tonight.

The 1925 oil canvas Mountains East of Maligne Lake has a pre-sale estimate of $2.5 million to $3.5 million, according to the Heffel Fine Art Auction House.

But Harris paintings have smashed expectations at recent auctions.

It was last November that Mountain Forms by the Brantford, Ont.-born painter went for over $11.2 million, more than double the previous record set in 2002 for the most expensive Canadian work ever sold.

Also up for auction tonight are three works by Jean-Paul Riopelle, including Composition, which has a pre-sale estimate of $400,000 to $600,000.

In May, a painting by the Quebec artist sold for more than $7.4 million, good for second on the list of Canada's most expensive works of art. Going into that Heffel sale, the painting Vent du nord had a pre-sale estimate of $1 million to $1.5 million.